Cup: Homestead - Race results

19 November 2012

Brad Keselowski is the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, after Jimmie Johnson suffered a drive line problem 43 laps from the finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That meant the #48 ended the final NASCAR race of 2012 in the garage, while Keselowski was able to cruise safely home to the chequered flag with no pressure to collect his maiden championship.

Before the mechanical failure, Johnson had looked to have put himself into a strong position to win the race after pit strategy meant he had only one more stop to make compared to Keselowski's two. However, a lugnut fumble meant he was forced to make an extra return to pit road, and the drive line issue ten laps later was the final blow for his dwindling championship hopes.

Bouncing back from the controversial events at the end of last week's race, Jeff Gordon clinched the race win by just over a second from his Phoenix nemesis Clint Bowyer. It was Gordon's 87th Cup win in 689 starts, his second win in 2012 after previously making it to victory lane seven races ago at Pocono in August. It's Gordon's first win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 14 starts at the 1.5-mile oval: the only track on the Cup calendar that Gordon hasn't won at in his career is Kentucky.

Gordon led for just 14 of the 267 laps of the Ford EcoBoost 400, including the final 13 laps of what proved to be a fuel-conservation race. His win hands Chevrolet its 15th win of 2012, and is Hendrick Motorsports' 209th Cup win - ten of them in 2012 alone.

In Saturday practice, Matt Kenseth set the fastest time in the first of the day's two practice sessions with a lap of 31.900s (169.279 mph) that put him 0.117s ahead of his Roush Fenway Racing team mate Greg Biffle who was second fastest despite the accident that sent him, Denny Hamlin and polesitter Joey Logano to their backups and to the back of the grid for the start of the race as a result.

Kyle Busch topped the times in the final happy hour session with a lap of 32.052s (168.476 mph) just 0.056s faster than Martin Truex Jr. The session saw another driver - Regan Smith - hit the wall heavily enough to require him to take to the backup car, so the #51 Phoenix Racing car joined Logano et all at the back of the grid for the start of the race on Sunday. Michael McDowell also scraped the wall in practice but did not do significant damage to his #98 car.